Multi-User Recording Storage Allocation with Flexible Space Borrowing
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Solution Overview
Problem
In multi-user media recording systems, existing technologies fail to manage storage space effectively, leading to monopolization by certain users and interference with others' recordings due to lack of user-specific storage tracking and allocation.
Innovation Solution
An interactive media guidance application dynamically allocates and reallocates storage space among users based on usage trends, allowing flexible limits and joint allocations, with specific portions reserved for exclusive or common use, and enabling borrowing of space when needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the recording device is shared by multiple users without storage tracking, then the system is simple to operate, but storage space cannot be fairly managed and users may monopolize the device
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the storage device into multiple virtual storage spaces, each associated with a specific user. The interactive media guidance application maintains separate storage counters for each user, allowing the system to track and manage storage space per user while maintaining a unified physical storage device. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by enabling fair storage management without requiring separate physical devices for each user.
Solution Approach 2:
The interactive media guidance application serves as an intermediary between multiple users and the physical storage device. It manages storage allocation by maintaining user-specific storage counters and controlling which recordings are stored in which virtual spaces. This intermediary layer enables the system to provide reliable storage management while keeping the user interface simple and unified.
2Reliability
If storage space is allocated to each user, then storage conflicts are reduced, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements segmentation by creating virtual storage spaces for each user within the single physical storage device. The interactive media guidance application maintains separate storage counters for each user, enabling the system to track and manage storage space per user. This virtual segmentation reduces storage conflicts while avoiding the complexity of multiple physical devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The interactive media guidance application performs multiple functions: it manages storage allocation, tracks user-specific storage usage, controls recording storage rights, and provides a unified user interface. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require separate systems into a single application layer, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining reliable storage management.
3Quantity of substance
If the recording device becomes full, then no more recordings can be made, but future recordings may be canceled or stored recordings deleted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the total storage capacity into user-specific virtual storage spaces. Each user has a dedicated storage counter that tracks their individual usage. When the physical storage device becomes full, the system can identify which user's virtual space is full and prevent only that user from making new recordings, rather than canceling all future recordings or deleting stored content. This segmentation protects recording scheduling reliability while maximizing storage capacity utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically manages storage allocation by allowing users to borrow storage space from others when needed. The interactive media guidance application can reallocate storage rights between users based on current usage patterns and storage availability. This dynamic reallocation ensures that storage capacity is efficiently utilized while maintaining reliable recording scheduling, as users can access storage resources as needed rather than being blocked by fixed capacity limits.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems and methods for managing the storage of recordings in a recording device in which the recordings were requested by several users are provided. Each user may be assigned a storage space limit defining the amount of storage space each user is entitled to use. In some embodiments, the storage space limit may be flexibly increased to take advantage of extra space available from other users. The system may intelligently borrow space from other users to limit the risk that a requested recording is canceled due to unavailable storage resources. In some embodiments, the system may jointly allocate a recording to several users who commonly requested a recording. The system may also set aside space in the recording device that is saved exclusively for a particular user. In some embodiments, the recording device may allocate the storage resources based on the usage of the recordings.